By Amanda Held
In the fields of Swanton, Ohio, something extraordinary happens every day. It doesn’t involve high-tech medicine or traditional therapy sessions. Instead, the healers are horses, the setting is serene, and the mission is deeply human: to help veterans reclaim their lives.
This is the work of H.O.O.V.E.S. - Healing of Our Veterans Equine Services - a nonprofit founded in 2011 by Amanda Held, a Mustang gentler, equine services facilitator and senior master sergeant in the Michigan Air National Guard. H.O.O.V.E.S. offers free, five-day Healing Intensives to veterans, first responders, caregivers and their families, using rescued horses as partners in recovery.
The goal? Transform post-traumatic stress into post-traumatic growth.
A Mission Forged in Service Held didn’t create H.O.O.V.E.S. from theory - she built it from her own experience with trauma, service and recovery. Her understanding of both military culture and the emotional wounds many veterans carry has shaped the program’s authenticity and depth.
“Our work isn’t about helping people go back to who they were before trauma,” Held says. “It’s about guiding them into who they’re meant to become.”
At the core of every program is the horse. Non-judgmental, instinctive and powerful, horses offer a form of feedback no human can replicate. They mirror emotions, provide presence, and help participants connect with themselves in ways talk therapy sometimes can’t.
The results are nothing short of staggering.
Real Results, Real Lives Changed Over 800 veterans have gone through H.O.O.V.E.S. programs, and the outcomes are eye-opening:
• 92% reduction in suicidal ideation
• 68% decrease in substance use as a coping mechanism
• 73% improvement in managing uncontrollable anger or rage
These aren’t abstract statistics. They’re people like Mike, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who said, “I’ve made more progress in five days than I’ve made in two decades.” Or Louis Favela, an Air Force medical corps retiree who called the experience “the gift of enjoying my life again.”
A third-party study by Horses for Mental Health and data analysis firm Nerds for Herds confirmed that 96.6% of participants felt the program helped with their mental health struggles.
